Showing results by author "Karla Gracey" in All Categories

After suffering a permanent injury from an ambush and losing mobility of one of his legs, Andrew Cable has lost all hopes for a happy future for himself. Now, as he is forced to rely on his mother and his brother, Jonny, to care for him, Andrew doubts his life could be any more pathetic. But when Jonny advertises on his behalf with hopes of finding him a mail-order bride, Andrew realizes that he was wrong. The woman seems just as determined to escape her own situation in life. So, he decides to help her do just that—while also giving his brother a taste of his own medicine.

For Carl Hennigan, Iron Creek is more than just a town—it is a chance. His chance to start over. To live a life of his own. To teach and do what makes his heart happy. As Carl settles in Iron Creek, he can’t help thinking that his new life wants for nothing—except perhaps somebody to share it with. Just as Carl is about to take the chance and advertise for a wife, he finds another listing from a young woman. Her replies intrigue him, as does the fact that she keeps her full identity hidden. But could there be more connecting them than Carl realizes?

Clara Wilton is bored. Trapped in the life of a Boston socialite, she longs for adventure, purpose, and true love. To enliven her dull life, she accepts a wager - little knowing that it will change her life in every way. Sheriff Nathaniel Hale has finally found the home he always longed for and a job he adores. But, just as he starts to feel that he can truly make a life for himself, a figure from his past emerges, threatening to put everything he has come to hold dear at risk.

After spending eight years in jail, Elias Groves is struggling to make a life for himself…. After all, there aren’t many people willing to hire someone convicted of bank robbery. No matter how many times he moves and attempts a fresh start, Elias can’t escape his past, and unable to find stable work, the idea of a wife and a family seems to be slipping further and further from his reach. When his friend suggests perusing advertisements in the paper to find a woman looking for a husband, he’s not convinced.

Jonny Cable isn’t like his twin brother. Andy might have chosen to settle down and marry, but Jonny has a duty to fulfill in the army. It shouldn’t matter that he sometimes yearns for a different life—one where he can stay in one place and make a simple living running a hotel. Or that he should long for companionship like his brother has with his own lovely wife.

Clara Weston is facing an uncertain future. Her army captain father has been killed in battle, leaving Clara and her elderly grandmother, Eugenia, alone to fend for themselves. Feisty and tenacious, Eugenia isn’t about to let her granddaughter throw her life away - and so she advertises on Clara’s behalf as a mail-order bride. Clara and her grandmother set out for Iron Creek. But the journey is long and hard going - and things only get worse as their wagon train crosses paths with a gang of bandits.

Unlike other women her age, Anna MacDonald has never set much hope on finding herself a husband. Far more important is the task of finding a position of employment...in a society that is untrusting of female doctors, that has proven challenging so far, to say the least. So, Anna resigns herself to replying to a collection of advertisements from men seeking mail-order brides. Who knows? Maybe one of them might even live in a town that would welcome her as a doctor. But what man would ever want a wife who places her career above family?

Bernadette Havering is a vivacious and independent woman. She knows her mind and never intends to let a man dictate what she should or should not be able to do. In a world where women having a job is frowned upon, she longs for a profession and wants to make history by becoming one of the very first women in the United States of America to gain a law license. But why should she give up a husband and family in order to do so? Can she truly have both?

Maeve Fitzpatrick has always been brave. Moving from Ireland to America was just a big adventure to her, but the reality has turned out to be so much less than she imagined. Living in grey and dreary Pittsburgh is hardly her dream come true! But she is not one to ever give up on herself - or her goals - and so she places an advertisement to find herself a husband, eager for the opportunity that another change of scenery might bring. But there are obstacles to face that she has never considered, obstacles she cannot change alone.

Clara Warburton is strong willed and determined that being female should not hold her back. As a student at Stanford, she wishes she could continue to enjoy the freedoms she has found there. But Society frowns upon clever and ambitious women, and her Papa is determined she will now learn her place. But Clara is not the kind of girl to take ultimatums lying down and so sets a course of her own making. But will it all end well? Has she finally been too clever for her own happiness?

Will Ryan is a busy man. He has a farm that he has finally managed to get in good heart and is one of the town deputies. He is gentle and the kind of man who can always be relied upon to help anyone in trouble. When Anna responds to his advertisement for a bride, he knows he must help her - even if it costs him the chance to love again. He prays that if he can make this sweet woman's life better that he will finally achieve redemption from his own past. But can he really ever forget and forgive himself for what happened to Alice?

Prudence Wimbourne is a ballet dancer, but a terrible accident ends her career abruptly. Now all her hard work and the sacrifices made by her and her family feel as though they have been for nothing. She longs to escape, and to find a new life with a man who understands how hard it is for her to leave everything behind. Matthew Carrington longs to find a place he might call home. Tired of never having a home and travelling from town to town as a member of a travelling troupe of actors he has saved his earnings, but never knew what to do with them until he meets some of the townsfolk of Faith Creek and knows he could make a life there. But as he builds his own theater, he realizes that there is still something missing.

Why would an accomplished governess respond to an advertisement in the Matrimonial Times? Myra Gilbert had never considered such a thing, but something has awoken within her and she is determined to take her chance on love. Carlton Green claimed his lands, and now has the deeds in his grasp. But something is missing in his life. Will his quest to find love fill that hole, or is there something from his past that could change everything and leave him with nothing?

For the most part, Geoffrey Drayton is content with his life in Iron Creek. Having thrown himself into work since the death of his wife, Geoffrey is now the most popular carpenter in town. But the life of a widower is a lonely and empty one. After watching so many of his friends find happiness with mail-order brides, Geoffrey decides it is time for him to take a chance—and advertises for a bride of his own.

When everything you know and believe is telling you "no", do you have the strength to listen to the true voice of your heart? Far away in Iron Creek, stagecoach driver Nelson Gustavson is fighting his own loneliness and places an advert for a bride. As replies flood in, he begins to fear that he’ll have to settle for someone, or search hard to make a connection. That is, until he finds Bronwen’s letter, a blunt and honest reply that he feels compelled to respond to. As Bronwen and Nelson connect through their letters, she feels his warmth radiate through his honesty.

Harriet Kirk has spent a lifetime being overlooked. Though she adores her sister, Annalise, who is beautiful and urbane, confident and accomplished in every situation, Harriet is tired of always being compared unfavorably to her. Clever and quick, practical and sensible, Harriet has always felt like an ugly duckling, but it has never stopped her from wanting the happily ever after that her sister always seemed destined for. But an unusual twist in their fates has them taking their destiny into their own hands.

Ambassador's daughter Marietta Winthrop has given up her own prospects of marriage and family to be a companion to her melancholic aunt. She secretly longs for adventure and the love of a man who won't try and change her but knows she is hoping for too much. She knows that all the men of her acquaintance would banish poor Aunt Clara to a sanatorium and she will not let that happen. But keen of mind, and inspired by a special day spent at the botanic gardens, Marietta begins to wonder if there just might be more to life after all.

Grace Gardner has done everything she can to try and fit into society, but she simply isn't that kind of girl. With her love of horses and passion for the wild terrain of Texas, she fears that she will never find a man to marry her. But, just maybe, if she takes matters into her own hands, she might find the right man after all. Owain Jones left Wales with hopes of making his fortune, and helping out his family. Offered the chance to start again by Sheriff Kimball, Owain makes his way to Faith Creek, but can he ever leave his past behind and build the loving family he longs for?

Belinda Weatherhead has secretly loved Thomas Rawlinson her entire life. Tortured by seeing him every day, the easy friendship he shares with her brother makes him off-limits. So when he leaves town unexpectedly, Belinda decides that it is time she got over him and found herself a man who can see her as she really is. Thomas Rawlinson has always been restless. He longs to get away from the confines of his ranching family, knowing he simply doesn't fit in there. But a year in Philadelphia has him missing the family he loves, and he longs to find a way to return, and to somehow save face whilst doing so.

Lisette Gibbons has courage and steel. Having made the dangerous crossing from England to New York as a girl, losing her beloved Mammy, and keeping house for her often absent Dadda, she has few friends to turn to when trouble strikes. She reaches out of her small world to find that there are many people who are glad to help, but she fears them learning her dark secret. Merle Shipley loves his life. He enjoys running the town's busy postal office and has big ambitions for it. But he feels something may be missing. Watching so many of his friends find love has made him think about building a family, now his business is doing so well. But will his generous heart make him lose out when he offers sanctuary to a woman he has never even met?